Can't Have It Both Ways

Chapter 11

Harry found himself with at least one Granger girl on his arm all night. Emma's terror at seeing a real live dragon up close and personal was magnified exponentially by the fact that her boy had to face the nightmare that came equipped with teeth, claws, wings, a wicked spiked tail and combustive halitosis.

His one complaint was in having to listen while discussions took place with Fleur on what style of dress was suitable for the ball they would be attending on Christmas Day, a small price to pay considering he got to spend the evening surrounded by his two favourite women on the planet.

Harry may have stolen his way into Emma's heart but she had totally captured his, he loved Mrs Weasley but had to admit her overbearing attitude and fixation for virtually stuffing food down his throat was a bit hard to take sometimes. Emma was more what he'd imagined his own mother would have been like, as shown in her treatment of both he and Hermione. She'd calmly listened as they'd explained their relationship and accepted him as Harry, the boy who loved her daughter.

He supposed that it shouldn't come as that much of a surprise, considering the only other person to treat him as just Harry was the daughter she raised.

Dan surprised himself by being comfortable standing chatting with the group he was in, Sirius, Remus, Barchoke, Amos Diggory and Professor Flitwick was quite an exotic mixture however you looked at it. Yet he was able not only to follow the conversation but actually contribute a few times as well, the subjects covered were certainly a bit different from the usual stuff discussed down the golf club. Though politicians seemed slightly more corrupt in the magical world, this may be in some measure owing to the availability of the media for purchase to the highest bidder. In his world a corrupt politician would signal a feeding frenzy as the press piranhas all fought for a piece of the offender's political carcass.

The Quibbler printing the truth was a phenomenon that was quickly gaining popularity in the magical world, being able to trust what you read was starting a revolution that was leaving other, less truthful publications gathering dust on the shelves.

Dan understood his wife not letting Harry out of her sight, sitting there helpless while the lad walked out to face a dragon had greatly affected him as well. Emma's comments comparing the event to the Roman Gladiator trials and the images of the emperor giving the 'thumb's up' or the fatal 'thumb's down' was not very far removed from judges awarding points and resonated with quite a number of the spectators.

Amos Diggory was beginning to bend under the friendly pressure of the group who were encouraging him to run for minister. Having witnessed the horrendous display of bigotry by Umbridge against Barchoke, Mrs Granger and Madame Maxine to name but a few, he was seeing the magical world through new eyes. His son's friendship with the other three champions had totally confused him, this was supposed to be a competition yet they all cheered for each other. Cedric's explanation had made him even prouder of his son and set him on the course to consider putting his name forward as minister.

"Dad, where would be the honour in winning if I let one of my fellow champions get hurt, or even worse. We all intend to do our best in the competition but feel promoting a spirit of co-operation is more important, the poster of the four champions has raised nearly ten times more for charity than the prize money on offer. It must be on almost every young witch or wizard's wall, and that was before we faced the dragons. The good we've already achieved far outweighs the 'eternal glory' promised for winning this tournament."

Filius was really enjoying himself at this large gathering with the only fly in the ointment being the fact that, although the other three houses were well represented, there wasn't a single Ravenclaw present. He couldn't fault Harry for that, rather his own house had badly let themselves down. The diminutive professor intended to rub their noses in it further by mentioning the magnificent library that was in this dwelling.